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Auditor General Kimi Makwetu said the findings made by his teams of specialists were “frightening”, with money flowing into systems ill-equipped to cope and ripe opportunities to commit crimes.
Auditor General Kimi Makwetu. Image: @ AuditorGen_SA / Twitter
CAPE TOWN – Auditor General Kimi Makwetu wants swift action on fraud, corruption and wrongdoing uncovered by his real-time audit of the use of COVID-19 funds.
In the first of what will be a series of reports, Makwetu pointed to widespread problems with the money spent so far.
Almost R148 billion was budgeted for COVID-19 relief, of which the government had spent almost R69 billion at the end of July.
That leaves around R79 billion to be spent, and now there is pressure not to be misused.
Makwetu said the findings made by his teams of specialists were “frightening”, with money flowing into systems ill-equipped to cope and ripe opportunities to commit crimes.
“So this was a multidisciplinary team effort that was not only based on someone handing him an invoice, but it was based on experience that was able to go very deep into areas where, so to speak, eagles dare.”
Their report shows that the deceased, prisoners, public servants and children under the legal age to work received COVID-19 benefits among others who did not qualify. Some 30,000 beneficiaries have been identified for further investigation.
Some Health and Education departments paid up to five times the current price for personal protective equipment, companies without tax certificates and no records won bids. All of this played out in a context of IT systems unable to cope and poor internal controls, something the Auditor General has been complaining about for years.
With the information turned over for further investigation, Makwetu said the audit work will continue and a more complete report is expected in November, also the month his seven-year term ends.
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